Tips and best practices for teaching online

How to encourage students with adjustment difficulties in the face of online learning to participate in the proposed activities? This question is bothering more than one at the moment since it is the challenge of this year. 

There are tools to be more spontaneous and relaxed in videoconferencing, and thus promote interaction with young people. To overcome the cognitive overload of online learning and to reduce stress, you can take the time to do relaxing activities at the start of the day: crafts, breathing, crosswords, mini-quizzes, etc. 

Here is an example of an activity to be carried out with the students, taken from the collaborative padlet " Spontracted project ". This padlet contains energizing ideas and activities to do in synchronization. Teachers can also improve it.

Other ideas are also available on the site sessionlabs.com.

Activity: Question of the day

It is about asking a question to the young people that they will answer in one or two word (s). With Mentimeter, a free online application that allows you to create interactive presentations, you can show students' answers to a question instantly. Just put the Mentimeter link in the "chat". When students are finished, Mentimeter's “Word Storm” is displayed. This method makes it possible in particular to review an activity or the previous course, or to take the group's pulse at the start of the day.

You can also ask specific questions that have no wrong or right answer to encourage students to participate, such as these.

• If you met a genius, what would be your three wishes?
• If you had a time machine, when would you go back?
• If you could meet someone famous, who would that person be?
• What would you bring to a desert island?
  

Good online practices

• We must not neglect the importance of welcoming students. It is recommended to greet everyone by mentioning their first name when it arrives in the online session. 
• Writing instructions in the chat allows students to refer to them quickly and allows teachers to avoid having to repeat them.
• Displaying the agenda or work plan on the screen can also help to keep track of the course. 
• It is best to use a private chat window if you need to speak to one person at a time.
• Use comfortable headphones with a microphone. A good working earphone will make it easier to pick up your words and reduce ambient noise pollution.

To deepen your knowledge and obtain more tools to perfect your videoconferences, consult our complete file produced in collaboration with the Lab-École.